Thursday, September 13, 2012

Time Lapse Type

Having to take a type class this year has really gotten me interested in the process of how illustrated, hand-done type is created - especially now that the opportunity to start creating and illustrating type is imminent and perhaps even encouraged. One aspect of the process that seems very daunting to me right now is taking a sketch or flat, blank vector and creating a complicated digital type illustration (or even a simple one - it's all foreign to me). A great place to look if you want to get an idea of the tedious process is on youtube! I found a couple of these videos while looking through artists on the site Typography Served (an offshoot of Behance). They are time lapses of the creative process behind the designs, so you can watch the artist as he or she creates the image step by step. The videos move very quickly, but you can see each tool being selected and how it's used to achieve a certain effect. If you're quick with a mouse, these videos can basically become tutorials for how to dive in and begin creating your own typographic illustration.

These two videos are from artist Alex Sheyn. The type was created as part of a print for his undergraduate thesis.

This next video was created by artist Laurent Beutan. He has a lot of art process videos on his YouTube channel. They are often accompanied by loud music, so heads up:

There are so many of these videos being created right now, and a lot of them are very easy to access! It's a great way to get inspired and a lot of fun to watch. Enjoy!